Steinberg Wavelab Elements 8 with Free Upgrade to Wavelab Elements 9

I was needing a tool for mastering that would allow me to apply different effects to different songs. I user Sonar for to create the original mixes. Wavelab is totally capable of doing this and allows up to 3 (I believe) plugins per clip/song. However, just like with the old PC version of Logic, I find the interface infuriating. Here are examples: 1) I dragged a tool window and docked it to the left as an experiment. I wanted to drag it back to where I originally had it but couldn't. It was too wide to see at that dock location. After lots of lost time and posting on the Steinberg forum about it, I discovered for myself that you have to hover the mouse at a certain spot on the tab to get a second popup tab that will then let you drag the window. 2a) I lost probably 20 minutes trying to find out something as simple as how to export an mp3. If you go to the File menu and choose export, apparently all you can do is export a definition of your Wavelab environment. To export the mp3, you have to know where a tiny dropdown labeled "Render." 2b) After finding the path to export an mp3, I had to download the free Lame encoder and learn where to put the file and how to select it. It's a needlessly convoluted process. Directions were buried in the Steinberg forum, were incomplete, and applied to a previous version. 3) I wanted to loop a section of a song in the montage view (what you use to create a CD). I found all kinds of info on looping if you're in the audio editor view but =nothing= on how to do it in montage. Turns out it's a simple as using the Marker tools, but otherwise you can't just click and drag to select a range in a song. Also, the Elements version does not have the ability to export DDP files for your CD. You'll have to shell out the $500 for the full version for that. I knew this when I bought it, so I'm OK with that. Just FYI. So - while I'm able to do most of what I want to do in WE8, the learning curve has been needlessly and frustratingly steep. I firmly believe that any German software company needs to beta test with their American customers. And no, I haven't used Cubase much and never want to now. They just don't get it. All just my opinion, of course.